A-class Mission: Elements Revived
---- Izar stood at the train station, looking thoughtfully down at his journal as he read through the last few pages. His pen tapping at the blank space he had left in case he was ever allowed to "remember" the event that was meant to be written there. After a few moments he closed the journal, stuffing it into his cloak, before staring down at his watch. Akumu walked briskly up to the train station, her hands tucked into the pockets of a loose navy blue hoodie, looking as nonchalant as one could. As she approached Izar, she slowed down, slipping her hands from their place. "When does the train get here?" She asks, looking down the track to see if she can spot it. Her dark hair is pulled back into its signature ponytail, a large yellow scrunchy keeping it in place, though her red-rimmed glasses were missing. A pair of mid-thigh length black athletic shorts accompany her hoodie, and a small leather backpack hangs down onto the small of her back. Izar smiled, pulling down the hood of his cloak as he saw Akumu walking toward him, at her question he checked his ticket just to be sure "Another five minutes" he states before passing her ticket to her. "Thanks for helping me out with this by the way, have you ever been to Bosco before?" he asked. Akumu shrugged her shoulders. "I need money, and your the only person other than Itari that I can stand, and he's busy doing whatever it is that outgoing people do. The other jobs are too trivial and don't pay enough," She says curtly, turning he gaze back up to Izar. "And I haven't been to Bosco before. Typically, slave country isn't a popular tourist attraction." She deadpans, turning her attention away from Izar to look at the train tracks. "But, I can't worry about that now, since I most likely won't have to deal with it anyway." Izar nodded, smiling a bit at her deadpanned humor, "I suppose I understand" he said with a light shrug. "It's an awful place, that's for sure. I'd have gone by myself if I could have, but the job said two or more" he said as the train whistle could be heard from down the tracks. Akumu watched as the train approached the station, gradually losing its speed as it came closer. "The destination is of little consequence so long as the job goes smoothly. Don't let your flashy magic get in my way or I'll end you along with the monsters we're supposed to defeat," She says as the train comes to a screeching halt in front of them. After about thirty seconds pass, passengers begin to exit, filling the once semi-quiet station with loud chatter. As the last of them filed out, Akumu quickly boarded the train, barely remembering to show her ticket to the conductor as she did. She grabs the seat as close to the exit as she can, which is three away, other passengers still occupying the first few seats, and sits next to the window, slipping her bag off her back and onto her lap. She pulls the hoodie up over her head, revealing a light gray t-shirt, and folds it up and resting it against the window. She lays her head on her makeshift pillow, though she doesn't close her eyes, instead fixating them out the window. Unlike their Dragon counterparts, Phoenix Slayers didn't get motion sickness, but Akumu did get restless if she had to sit still too long. If she was able to relax and fall asleep, she could probably avoid the worst of it, which is what she planned on doing. Izar wasn't sure if she had meant that as a joke or a threat, regardless, he was surprised by her eagerness to board the train, leaving him in the dust as she did so. He made his way onto the train, after showing the conductor his ticket he scans the seats for Akumu, finding her three seats away from the exit looking as though she had already made herself comfortable. He sits across from her but decided against saying anything as she was clearly already focused on the world beyond the train. He, instead, decided to pull out his journal and continue writing, sneaking glances up at her every once and a while. Akumu could still see Izar glancing up at her from her peripherals, and refrained from sighing at his attempts to be sneaky about it. Shifting, so she could focus her attention more on what was outside the train rather than within it, her green eyes began to glaze over the longer she looked. However, unlike what she had planned, she was getting bored rather than tired. Sighing in defeat, she shifted into a seated position, looking over at Izar. "What're you writing?" She asked. Izar looked up from his journal, shifting to sit more upright "nothing much, I'm just adding where I took the job and when I asked you to help me out with it. Is the scratchy sound of the pen on the paper keeping you up?, I can stop if it is" he said, already beginning to close the small book. Akumu shook her head. "No, you're fine, I just have trouble keeping still for too long is all." She says, looking back out the window. "I probably should have brought something to read," She says absentmindedly, resting her head back against the window. The world outside zooms by, which just makes Akumu want to move even more. A smile formed across Izar's face "Ah, restlessness. The spirit of a wanderer may lurk within you yet" he said jokingly. He thought for a moment, "It may be a poor replacement but if you'd like, I can requip any of my journals?. Though I warn you, the earlier the journal the poorer the penmanship" he said. "The spirit of a wanderer exists in those who dream of a world where they can be free. I've already found that," She says though her heart isn't completely in it. Akumu allows his offer to shift in her mind for a few moments. "How about the one you wrote in right before the one you're writing in right now?" She asks, holding out her hand so she can accept the book. Izar listened to her words, satisfied with her response, requiped a similar journal to the one he already held and handed it to her "This one's mostly filled with the jobs I've taken in the past year but help yourself" he said with a shrug, letting go of the book. Akumu took the book, flipping to the first page and beginning to read the contents. As Izar had said, it was a job, though it was better than nothing. Her slight fidgeting had stopped as she became more engaged in the journal, and eventually, the world around her began to be tuned out as well. Her green eyes took in each word with fervor, and while it wasn't perfect --ink smudges, some words crossed out, a misspelled word every few pages-- it was real, something most books made in the last year failed to capture. Izar watched as she slowly became engaged in the journal, when it seemed she had completely forgotten about the world around her he turned to look out the window. He watched as the world quickly raced by. This was one reason he disliked trains, he never got the chance to truly enjoy the sight before him before it was gone, lost somewhere behind him. In his opinion, the convenience of getting there faster was not worth sacrificing the enjoyment of actually experiencing the world. His eyes wandered from the window back to Akumu who still seemed entranced in her reading. "Though, I suppose it is worth it if I get to spend time with her" he thought, opening his journal, he began to write down his thoughts. Several hours later, the train rolled to the final stop for the pair, and Akumu was jolted out of her entranced state as the train began to slow down and the whistles announced that they had approached the destination. She hands the journal back to Izar, waiting for the train to come to a complete stop before she stood up. She fixed her ponytail, and then quickly exited the train, walking briskly towards a map in the train station. As she had expected before they got on the train, the train did not take them to Talonia, rather the town next to it, due to its unpredictable weather. She placed her finger on the words '''You are here' ''and began to trace a path to Talonia. After a moment, she turns to Izar. "We've got a little bit more distance to travel, but we should arrive there by mid-afternoon if we set a brisk pace," She says, looking back over the map again. The journal vanished from Izar's hands as they pulled into Torrot's station. He followed close behind Akumu as she exited the train. He watched as she studied the map but his eyes failed to meet hers as he scanned the area, almost as if he were paranoid, he nodded as she spoke "That's good news, the less time we spend in this Godforsaken country the better" he said pulling up the hood of his cloak. "Please don't make eye contact with anyone and pull up your hood, I'd rather not draw any unwanted attention" he continued before finally turning to face her. Akumu nodded, pulling her hoodie back on and putting the hood up. She began to walk out of the train station, following the path she had memorized from the map. Around a half hour later, the duo had arrived in Talonia, more specifically Vladamir Kodack's home. The sky was filled with dark, heavy clouds, and small specks of snow were falling slowly to the ground. She knocked three times on the door, and a moment later the door opened halfway and she was greeted by a burly man in a tailored black suit. "Good evening," He said, peering at them suspiciously. Akumu kept her gaze downcast. "Good evening. I'm here on account of a job request. Would you be the man who requested it?" She asks. "I am Vladamir Kodack. Might I ask who you are?" He asks, keeping the door open wide enough so they could only see half his body. "Names mean little sir though I assure you we are from Koma Inu," She says, offering her left hand, where a black and green outlined Komainu was. "Though if you were asking what to refer to us as, you may refer to me as Phoenix and my partner as Cosmos," She says curtly, leaving no room for argument. The man takes a moment to ingest the information, then opens the door fully, allowing them to enter. He guides them to presumably his living room, where a black leather couch and matching armchairs are. Akumu sits on the couch, Vladamir taking the chair opposite it. "I'm very fortunate that you responded. This town hasn't been able to do anything in terms of normal life since this wretched weather came about." He says, and before he can continue, Akumu puts a finger up. "We are aware of what has been going on, you explained it in detail on the flier. Now, where are the monsters and the shrine?" She asks. The man snaps his fingers several times, and then a woman dressed in a ruffled black dress comes up. He whispers something to her, and she disappears, coming back a moment later with a map and a marker. Vladamir puts a square around the shrine, and then circles areas where the beasts have attacked. Izar cracked a smile at Akumu's choice of codenames but said nothing in an attempt to keep a serious atmosphere. He followed her into the home, allowing her to do the talking for now. While Akumu chose to sit, Izar stood beside the couch. When Vladamir had the map brought out and began circling several different spots, Izar studied them carefully in an attempt to find a pattern. However, most seemed random to his eyes "I'd say we have three options, Phoenix. We can head to the shrine now and see what we can find there, ask around to see if anyone else has more information they'd be willing to share, or we could investigate the attack sites. What do you think?" he asked. Akumu thought over his question. The shrine, from what information she had about it, was clearly the source of all the issues. However, if they were able to trap and subdue a monster, it may be possible to find a way to convince them to stop. However, this depended on whether the beasts possessed any sort of intelligence. Asking slave drivers for help was the last thing she wanted to do, so she knew she would avoid that as much as she could. "Let's go to the shrine," She says. She points at the map. "May I take this with me?" She asks. "Of course," Vladamir says, and Akumu rolls the map up, slipping it into her bag. "Thank you, sir. We'll be sure to take care of this as fast as we can," She says, standing up. He guides them back to the entrance, and Akumu begins walking towards the shrine, not bothering to pull the map from her bag. The weather had changed, the skies above clear and the sun blazing hot. Akumu grimaced beneath the bright light and intense heat though continued on her path. As she reached the edge of the town, which was signified by a line of massive trees, she stopped. "Be on guard," She says, and she begins to walk into the forest. The shadows around her seemed to respond to her emotions, becoming darker and giving off a far more sinister feeling than before, the light poking through the trees becoming far dimmer. Izar followed Akumu through the town to the tree line. He felt slightly offended by her words, as if he hadn't had his guard up since they had entered this country. He again chose to say nothing and instead continued to follow her into the forest. The trees became much thicker, their branches began to hang outward over the path letting less and less light through as they walked. The path seemed to become a narrow hallway of sorts, the thick trees on either side acting as walls while the overhanging branches formed a ceiling over them. The path continued this way until suddenly opening up to reveal a large shrine that sat atop a set of large stone stairs that were cracked and crumbling in several places, most likely due to the earthquake that started of this "So this is the place" Izar says, breaking the silence that had been hanging in the air since they entered the forest. Akumu nodded, staring at the crumbling shrine with mild interest. She walked up to it, scanning the outside. Nothing outside of the ordinary, besides the fact that it was in the middle of a forest and had apparently stood so long that Mother Earth decided to take it upon herself to break it down. "I'm going up," She says, putting her foot on the first stair. It shifted and caved inwards as she pressed weight onto it, and she grumbled. "Wings," She enchanted, a pair of deep black wings forming on her shoulder blades. They beat several times, and she floated above the staircase up to the top of shrine. She stepped onto the top, and found that it was able to support her weight, though kept her wings intact just in case. She walked into the shrine, studying the paintings carefully. Each wall was decorated with various weather phenomenon, and winged creatures were put into each of the things that caused them, such as the sun or clouds. "Well, I think we found out what's caused this," She says, crossing her arms over her chest. She continues to look over the paintings, looking for any further clues, especially ones pointing towards what they should do about the creatures. Izar quickly followed her, levitating with the help of his Cosmic magic "Hey, don't go off on your own. We're a team remember?" he said landing at the top of the stairs, following her inside he found himself surrounded by painted walls. He too begins studying them as an feeling of uneasy begins to fill him. He makes his way to the alter where four large urns sat open "Phoe-Akumu, what do you think about these things?" he asked, feeling that using codenames was pointless now. "Team or not, you saw me moving, it's not my fault you couldn't keep up," She retorts. She looks at the urns, then turns her attention back to the paintings on the wall. While there were several monsters painted on the wall, she had noticed that some of them looked quite similar to each other. She counted the different variants: four. "I think we've found a way to return balance to the city." She says. "But we better bring the monsters to the urns, in case this whole place comes crashing down when we take them," She adds, stepping out of the shrine and begining to fly above the trees. She waits for Izar this time but scans the skyline as she waits. Night was fast approaching, and while this was of little concern to Akumu, she didn't know how night affected her partner, nor if it affected him at all. She would also need to sleep eventually if she had any chance of taking on weather controlling deities. When Izar comes up to her side, she expresses such. "We should probably find somewhere to lodge. I'm fine sleeping outside, though, if you think it isn't safe enough to stay somewhere." Izar nodded as she explained her thoughts "Alright so we find the monsters, bring them here and end this, sounds good to me" he said following her back out and into the sky. After Akumu spoke, Izar weighed his options, staying in town was incredibly risky but so was staying outside in such unpredictable weather, deciding he trusted the forces of nature much more than the citizens of Bosco he decided that they should camp out "Let's try to find a cave near by, or maybe a tree with foliage thick enough to keep us dry if it rains" he said scanning the ground and trees beneath them. "So primitive," She says as Izar begins to search for places to stay. She beckons Izar over as she flies back down to the ground, having already spotted a large boulder before. She draws a large circle with her darkness magic, then places her hand in the center. The gray is overtaken by a sludge of black before it collapses inwards on itself, a hole large enough for both of them to fit comfortably inside. Any sign of debris is absent thanks to the total corruption of her magic as well. "Safe from the elements, and much faster than searching, don't you think?" She asks, looking over it carefully to ensure it wouldn't collapse while they were inside. "Much faster" Izar said as he walked into their small shelter. He formed a small star in his hand before placing it in the center of the area "I suppose you're hungry right?" He asked, pulling off his backpack and requipping a pot and pan. Akumu hummed in agreement, settling down a few feet away from the small star. She took her pack off and pulled the map she'd been given out. She begins looking over the places the creatures have struck, mentally comparing them to the paintings she had seen in the shrine in order to find any correlation. She didn't have much luck, the attacks all completely random. She sighed in defeat, rolling the map back up again and returning it to her bag. Izar created another star upon which he allowed the pan to hover over, after filling the pan with water from his canteen he placed rice into the pan allowing it to soften and expand before pulling out several potatoes and carrots from his backpack. He cut them up using one of the many knives he kept on him at all times and placing them into the pan. He then began to carefully add a few seasonings into the pot before stirring it. Everything had been cooked to perfection he allowed the star beneath the pan to fade away. He requipped two small bowls, filling each of them before passing one to Akumu "Dinner is served" he said with a smile. Akumu thanked Izar as she took her bowl, closing her eyes and taking in the delectable aroma in a slow and deep breath. Sighing in contempt, she began to eat, the warm food making her feel several times better than she had earlier. "You are an amazing cook," She said after swallowing her third mouthful, a pleased look on her face. "Thank you, I had an excellent teacher" he said picking at his food with his spoon, as he began to eat he too began to feel better, not having realized just how hungry he was until food began to fill his stomach. After his first two bites he swallowed and looked over to Akumu "So, what's the plan for tomorrow?" he asked, wondering exactly what she had gathered from looking at the map. Akumu swallowed her food before answering, allowing her a moment to fully gather her thoughts. "We're gonna piss those spirits off so much they have no choice but to attack us," She says seriously, setting the bowl down, the contents having been emptied. "Which means we have to destroy that shrine some more until they show up. Unless, of course, you have another idea on how to attract their attention?" She asks. Izar took some time to think "hmm, we're in Bosco so it's not like we'll get in trouble or anything. Sure, I'm down for destroying an ancient shrine" he said with a shrug "but for now I think we should get some rest, I doubt fighting spirit beasts is going to be a walk in the park so we'll need as much energy as we can muster" he said allowing the dirty pan and bowls to vanish. Akumu nods, and shifts down onto her back, casting her gaze outside towards the sky. Thanks to the boulder, trees weren't able to take root, so she could see the vast navy blue up above, twinkling with bright stars, the moon a ghastly silver in the sky. She shut her eyes after a moment, quickly falling asleep. Izar waved his hand, lowering the light of the star to a faint glow. He moved to the Shelter's entrance, pulling his hood over his head. He sat down, leaning back against the wall to give himself the appearance of sleeping. The night had become nearly pitch black, the moon and stars being the only light visible other than Izar's personal star but even then clouds would block them out from time to time, leaving the faint glow of the star to allow him the comfort of sight. Izar could tell it was getting late, the moon had began to hang low in the sky. His eyelids had become far to heavy for him to keep up, deciding that he would be useless in their battle if he didn't get some sleep he reluctantly moved into the shelter, trading the light of the star for a cosmic shield that blocked the entrance. Izar began to wonder if he were truly just paranoid, it had been a very long time since he stepped foot in Bosco, maybe it had changed, maybe things weren't as bad as they were back then?. He quickly shook away the thought, adopting a "better safe than sorry" attitude for the time being. He lied down on his back with an internal sigh. Morning came quick, as Izar suspected it would. He awoke no more than two or three hours later, the sun had began to peak over the horizon. He let out a quiet yawn before lowing the shield and moving outside to get a start on cooking breakfast. Akumu's eyes peeled open slowly, the dim light from the sun making the process much easier. She shifted up into a seated position, pressing the bottom of her feet together so she was in the butterfly position, and leaned forward, beginning her early morning stretch routine. After about fifteen minutes passed, her entire body was limber, something most people wished they felt at the break of dawn after just waking up. She then adjusted her appearance, fixing her ponytail and straightening her clothes to the best of her ability. She then stepped outside of their small shelter, and greeted Izar with a short "Good morning." Izar turned to her and smiled "Good morning, I hope you slept well" Izar said as he sat down a bowl of eggs over rice next to him, motioning for her to sit. He then turned his attention toward the sky which was surprisingly clear of ominous snow clouds or scorching sunlight "A fine day for temple smashing wouldn't you agree?" he asked. Akumu nodded, taking a seat next to Izar and beginning to eat. "As long as you're up for it. I heard you shifting around all damn night, so you better not be dragging today or I'll kick your ass into the shrine so hard you won't be able to get out," She says after devouring her fifth mouthful. She makes quick work of the remainder of her meal, then set her bowl down, hopping back up to her feet. "Let's go as soon as we can, alright?" She says, heading back into their shelter to grab her bag, and then coming back out to wait for Izar. "I'm sorry about that, I hadn't meant to disturb you. You don't have to worry about me, I got more than enough sleep " he said quickly cleaning up. He requipped his two scimitar as he began walking toward the shrine "let's get this over with" he said. Akumu nodded and began walking towards the shrine. Before she left the copse of the trees, she took in a deep breath, the shadows around her being collected into her mouth. Her cheeks expanded, and as she stepped out, she released it, performing the signature Darkness Phoenix's Scream, a large swirled combination of black, sickly green, red, and purple being projected at the shrine. As the massive twister of corrosive energy made contact with the shrine steps, they began to dissipate, causing the shrine to slide down, though still remain in fairly good condition. More black energy began to swirl around her fists though she kindly waited for Izar to get in an attack of his own. Izar held up one of his scimitar, pointing it just above the shrine. Three medium sized magical circles appeared above the shrine "Cosmic arrows" he muttered as several silver beams began to shoot down from the circles, bearing down on top of the shrine. A roar could be heard in the distance "Did you hear that?" Izar asked. Akumu nodded, and spreads her arms wide. "Darkness Phoenix's Wings," She states, slamming her hands together in front of her, causing the darkness magic gathered there to blast forward. Any small pieces of the shrine were completely demolished in the attack and the front of the shrine had been eroded away so only a sliver of it remained. The roaring got louder, more joining it as well. Darkness gathered around Akumu, and then she disappeared, fully melding into the shadows. "We now know for certain that the beasts are connected to shrine. Do your best to separate them and bring them into the shrine one at a time, and then I can capture them in an urn. We'll trade after every successful capture." She says, her voice seemingly coming from all over. "Sound good?" She asks. Izar nodded "Alright" being all he could think to say. He held up his hand, casting a thin cosmic shield around the shrine. Izar took in a deep breath as the roars became closer, the sunny sky became thick with clouds as freezing rain began to fall, followed closely by whipping winds. Two spirits burst forth from the trees running toward Izar. Holding up his scimitar, he increased the gravity on top of what he assumed to be the one causing the rain. It slipped, falling to the ground under the sudden increase of gravity. Izar pointed his second scimitar at the other beast who still charged him "Black hole" he said under his breath as the ground in front of the scimitar cracked, a black ball forming before collapsing in onto itself, creating a spinning vortex of darkness. The beast stopped in it's tracks but was unable to fight the black holes attracting force, having already crossed it's event horizon. It entered the black hole. At that instance, another hole opened within the shrine spitting the creature out "Akumu!, heads up!" he yelled, hoping she could hear him. Just as his words left his mouth his jaw was met with the fist of the second beast who had escaped from Izar's gravity field. Izar went flying by regained his sense mid-flight, allowing him to catch himself and levitate. He pointed Hikari at it, releasing a powerful beam of light. The creature created an ice shield to protect itself. The beam cracked the shield but did little else. Akumu appeared inside the shrine, the fortress groaning and shifting under her weight, though she continued forward, grabbing an urn. She picked it up, holding it in the crook of her right arm and holding the lid with her left hand. She stepped back up to the entrance, watching as Izar began fighting the beasts. When the second beast was launched through the black hole and towards her, she held out the urn, and the beast was instantly drawn into it. The force of the large creature being sucked into such small space nearly knocked Akumu backwards, and she quickly slammed the lid shut. She set the urn back on its altar, then leapt out of the shrine, setting one of her fists on fire and the other gathering darkness within it. She conjoining the two, causing a thick, shivering black flame to be formed that was roughly the size of a beach ball. She placed it on one of her fists then ran up to the beast, coming to an abrupt stop in front of it. Her momentum does not stop however, and she leads with her Darkness Flame fist, punching the beast in the face, the ice shield having been destroyed by the fire's heat even before it made contact. The flames erupted in a fierce blast, consuming the beast, the sheer weight of the flames causing it to crash to the ground. It's body began to deteriorate because of the massively corrosive flames, and Akumu leapt over its body. "Get ready!" She exclaimed, and she picked the beast up, throwing it over to the shrine. She was then tackled to the ground by another beast that had burst from the forest, pinning her against the ground. The beast was ridiculously hot, scorching Akumu's clothes as skin wherever it made contact. Akumu screamed, a blue fire growing around her, which repulsed the beast so greatly that it leapt off of her. She quickly scrambled up to her feet and made a wall of blue fire between her and the beast, and then sprinted towards the shrine. "You're up star boy!" She said. Already, her wounds had begun to heal, the burn marks becoming smaller, something she was immensely glad for. Izar quickly warped into the shrine, grabbing the next urn. He readied himself at the entrance at Akumu's suggestion. The beast crossing in front of the urn as it flew toward him, being swallowed into it. The force was indeed enough to knock someone off their feet, he kept his balance and sealed the urn. His eyes widened at Akumu's scream, quickly sitting the urn down he jumped from the shrine as she passed him. Izar breathed a sigh of relief as he set his sights on the beast "Fire" he said noticing the beast's steaming body. He held out his hands creating seven magical circles before him "Heavens rain" he said as a hail of blue colored cosmic arrows began to fire from the circles. They rained down upon the beast in an overwhelming manner. It screeched as the arrows pierced it. Izar dropped to the ground, running toward the beast before warping behind it "Argentea vestitus erumpens super ripas suas" Izar enchanted, holding out his palm. A large blast of cosmic energy was released from his hand, sending the beast flying toward the shrine, the blast's energy fading before it could do any damage to the shrine itself. "Here it comes!" he shouts before his attention was quickly drawn to a flying tree. He warped to the side, dodging the tree. He looked toward the tree line where the final spirit stood. A much larger creature than the others, it's body seeming to be made of stone with small trees and roots protruding from it's body from several places. Izar placed his hands together, creating a large silver sphere in front of him. He sent the sphere toward the beast before backing toward the shrine. Akumu grabbed the next urn, getting into the same position as she had before, waiting for the beast to be launched her way. The magnificent beam of light propelled the beast forward this time, which allowed the beast to have an even greater momentum than before. She crouched down somewhat to prepare for the impact, leaning forward to prevent herself from being launched back. As it the beast came within a few inches, it was quickly sucked into the urn, and with more preparation, Akumu was barely moved at all. When the final and massive beast remained, Akumu leapt from the shrine, melting into a shadow and snaking her way over to the trees behind it. As she reformed, a deep purple flame grew in her hands, and she launched it towards the beast's legs, wrapping it around its right front and hind leg. She yanked, and the beast was forced onto its side because of the loss of balance. This beast was quite obviously heavier than the last one, and she didn't want to attempt to pick it up in case it rolled over and crushed her. She wrapped the purple flames tighter around the beast's two legs, preventing it from rising. However, the beast had no issues attacking even in its motionless state. Jagged spikes and massive thorn bushes sprouted all around it, forcing Akumu to quickly dodge around them to avoid being impaled. With shadows cast all around her, however, Akumu had no qualms with this set up either, and the darkness began being absorbed wherever it touched her, empowering her greatly. "Darkness Phoenix's Grim Sphere," She stated, and she pointed an open palm towards the beast, a sphere of swirling black energy gathering in front of it. After ten seconds, it had grown exponentially, roughly half as tall as Akumu in diameter. It was released then, and it crashed into the beast, with a force great enough to crush steel. The beast was propelled towards the shrine, coming to a skidding stop several meters in front of it. Akumu rushed up, her right leg wrapped up in darkness magic. She performed a quick and harsh upward kick, forcing the beast into the air and towards the shrine's entrance. "Last one!" She shouted at Izar. The intense kick even with the protective barrier of magic had no doubt caused, at least, a bruise to form on her foot though she imagined it would be okay by the time they got home. If not, she'll just ask Itari to heal her. Izar was amazed to see her kick the beast so high into the air "What a woman" he thought, a blush forming as he watched the beast ascend, He held up the urn as the beast fell. It was quickly absorbed into it, the urn's weight becoming nearly unbearable. He decreased the gravity around him so that he could safely sit it down and place the top over to it. After doing so, he jumped down to meet Akumu at the shrine's base "That was amazing, you really kicked that things ass, no pun intended" he laughed "you okay?, I mean you did literally kick that thing twenty or so feet in the air" asked, concern in his voice. Akumu nodded, waving him off. "I'll be fine once I move around on it some," She says, and she begins to walk, favoring her right foot though obviously not going to do anything about that fact except continue forward. "What kind of magic does your other scimitar have?" She asks after a moment. It wouldn't be too much to assume that it had something to do with darkness, considering he controlled the cosmos, and a lot of the cosmos was made up of empty black space. If she could consume some Darkness Magic she'd be healed in an instant. Izar held up Yami "Yami is infused with darkness magic, do you need some?" he asked, noticing her attempt to hide the favoring of her right foot "It wouldn't be any trouble at all" he continued as the blade began to radiate a black and green aura. Akumu nodded, touching her fingertip to the flat of the blade. Upon contact, the aura had disappeared, being absorbed by Akumu instantaneously. The surge of ethernano allowed Akumu's wounds to be completely healed, including the residual burn marks. The only sign that Akumu had ever been attacked in the first place were the small holes in her clothes caused by the fire beast. With newfound energy, Akumu set a quicker pace than before, quickly finding her way through the tunnel of foliage back to the city. When they broke the copse of trees, Akumu flipped her hood up and began walking towards the Kodack household. Izar sheathed his blades following quickly behind Akumu, pulling up his hood as she did. When they found their way back into the Kodack household Izar knocked on the door. After about a minute and a half, Vladamir answered the door "Oh, it's you two again" he said "I trust you've dealt with our problem?" he asked. Izar nodded "We did" he said matter of factly "but there are still some things we must discuss" Izar said, taking a second to look around "May we continue this conversation in doors?" he asked. Vladamir nodded, allowing the two inside, Izar, again choosing to stand rather than sat "The weather phenomenon your town was experiencing were indeed caused by the beasts, their awakening being the result of the ancient shrine being damaged by the earthquake. While we were able to reseal the beasts, it is likely that they will return if the shrine is not repaired" Izar explained. Vladamir nodded to what Izar said, snapping his fingers a few times, a man with a simple black suit coming up to his side, holding a briefcase. He opened it, revealing the jewel inside. "This is the 1,200,000 jewel that was promised. Can you give me an estimate on how much it will cost to repair the shrine?" He asks. Akumu thinks back to the nearly completely demolished shrine. "Well sir, that depends on who you're hiring. I suggest an earth mage, instead of simple builders. Should you follow my advice, I'd say around 3,000 jewel for the mage, and around 500 for materials." Vladamir nods to this as well, sending the man who brought the briefcase away, who returned with 4,000 jewel, handing it to Vladimir. "Thank you for helping us get rid of this threat. Good day," He says, handing them the briefcase full of money. "If it's not any consequence to you, would you mind if we split the money here?" Akumu asks, to which he nods. Akumu grabs a single stack of money, which supposedly amounted to 10,000 jewel in 100 jewel bills. She carefully ran her thumb along the edge of the stack, counting it. 100 perfectly. Smiling with content, she began to make a stack for herself and one for Izar, occasionally counting a stack to ensure it had the proper amount as well. After it was split evenly between them, Akumu shifted her stack into her bag, which she then slung around one of her shoulders to be able to keep a constant eye on it. "Thank you again," Vladamir said as they left, and Akumu nodded before being led out the door by him. She quickly made a pair of darkness magic wings once she got outside, then launched into the sky, flying quickly over to the train station. Izar followed suit, levitating into the air after her. Once the two landed at Torrot's station, they bought their tickets and boarded the train. Izar, knowing Akumu would most likely do the same, found a seat close to the exit, it being the second this time seeing as the train was much less crowded than before. " That was quite fun wouldn't you say?" he asked, requipping his journal and a pen. Akumu took her spot opposite of Izar, sighing deeply as she sunk into the seat. "It was exhilarating," She admits, looking down at her hands as she stretched the muscles there. "It feels good to be able to punch my problems away," She adds, looking back up to Izar. "May I borrow your journal again?" She asks. "Indeed, it does" he said leaning back in his seat "You were really amazing out there, you handled those spirits like they were nothing. I'm really glad I brought you along" he said a smile adoring his features. At her request he nodded "of course, any time", he said requipping the one she had been reading the other day before passing it to her. "If I couldn't handle a few spirits throwing hissy fits there's no way I would've been able to survive as a mage as long as I have," She says. "You did an excellent job as well, tactical approaches often times are underestimated, but you made full use of your head instead of just trusting your fists to get the job down." As she is handed the journal, Akumu flips through to around half way through and begins reading, falling into silence and stillness as she does. Izar's smile widened at her compliment but she had already become engrossed in her reading before he could thank her, deciding to say nothing, he simply turned to look out the window. It wasn't long before the train began to move, at which point Izar began writing in his journal, detailing their mission up to this point. When he was done he glanced up at Akumu, who still glued her eyes to the small leather journal. Stuffing his current one into his cloak, he leaned his head back and began to let his mind wander, knowing full well that they had nearly an hour or two before they arrived in Onibus town. A few hours later, the train came to a screeching halt, and Akumu looked up to ensure this was their stop. Being that it was, she handed Izar's journal back to him and then exited the train, quickly finding her way out of the train station to avoid the massive crowds. Once she was in the clear, she turned to Izar who had presumably followed her. "Thank you for taking me along on this mission," She says. Izar nodded "Thank you for coming, it was a pleasure working with you" he said holding out his hand ready to shake hers "I guess I'll see you later then, say hello to Itari for me. I mean, if you want to anyways" Izar said, not really knowing if it was okay to mention her brother but figuring he would have to sooner or later. Akumu replicated the action, shaking his hand firmly. "I, uh, don-" She starts, then bites her tongue. There was no sense in prolonging the inevitable, Itari would eventually find out about Akumu hanging out with Izar. "I'll tell him you said hi," She says before she begins to walk towards Koma Inu, most likely to get a well-deserved rest. Category:Aaniimee Category:Blackdagger01 Category:RP